Five on Friday

I thought it was time to resurrect my weekly round up of things I’m reading, watching and listening to. As usual, this is an eclectic mix of things that have caught my attention or made me pause for thought this week. And also a reminder, there are still elderflowers out there, so it’s not too late to make cordial or even a batch of my Elderflower champagne!

Life on Gartur Stitch Farm. Kat writes a blog and posts photos of life with her family on a semi remote smallholding in Scotland. A dip into her Instagram or blog is always a treat, and this week her sourdough recipe caught my eye. A good introduction to their everyday life is this post, written back in March. I often think of Kat when I’m gathering food from the hedgerow or folding my sourdough and mulling over the way our lives overlap. She’s also one of the creative team behind The Crochet Project, together with Joanne Scrace they design and publish an inspired and beautiful collection of patterns each season. It’s impossible to pick out a favourite.

Under the Sea. While I was baking earlier this week, I caught the end of The Life Scientific on Radio 4, I was so intrigued, I searched on iplayer to listen again to this interview with Rachel Mills an oceanographer. We know so little about the world of the deep oceans and this insight into exploration, conservation and a woman’s life in science was the best of this week’s radio.

What’s the Beef With Eating Meat? This article written on the Piper’s Farm blog struck a chord with me. Animal welfare, conservation and ecological issues all sit high on my “agenda”, so it was interesting to read this piece on modern farming written from the farmer’s perspective.

Belgian Beer Culture. I like to listen to Radio 4’s the Food Programme on catch up as we’re so often busy when it’s first broadcast. In this episode Dan Saladino takes us on a tour of Belgium’s beer and brewing culture. If (like me), your only experience of Belgian beer is a few bottles knocked back on a boozy weekend in Bruges, this will be a revelation. Mr T and I have already pencilled in a weekend to go and explore, armed with this Guide to Belgian Cafe Culture, written by the lovely Regula Ysewijn (who also features in this episode).

A Daily Dose of Robert McFarlane. I still dip into Twitter on a daily basis. All of Robert’s books are worth a read and his daily posts of lost, overlooked words are always worth checking out. Regular readers might recall this post about my “undersong” which made reference to his book Landmarks.